By GABRIELLA BOCK | Reporter
Comedy screwball James Franco may receive his second Oscar nomination this year for his role as cult film director Tommy Wiseau in “The Disaster Artist.”
In addition to his extreme character portrayal as the eccentric and often perplexing Wiseau, Franco has stepped into the director’s chair for this quirky parody about the artist behind “The Room”—a film so terrible it was dubbed “the ‘Citizen Kane’ of bad movies.”
With a little help from the usual suspects, including Seth Rogen, brother Dave Franco and Palisadian production designer Chris L. Spellman, Franco has managed to create an award season contender reminiscent of Tim Burton’s 1994 comedy “Ed Wood”—a biographical film about struggling low-budget sci-fi director Edward D. Wood Jr. that garnered two Academy Awards, including Martin Landau’s Best Supporting Actor win for his role as Bela Lugosi.
Spellman, a Marquez Knolls resident and behind-the-scenes regular for Judd Apatow, began his career as the production designer of a 1996 movie making video game titled “Steven Spielberg’s Director’s Chair.”
Since then, Spellman has worked movie set magic for films such as “Superbad,” “Pineapple Express” and “Jeff, Who Lives at Home.”
In “The Disaster Artist,” Spellman helps to recreate Wiseau’s now infamous vision for “The Room” and ensures that there isn’t a bit of cultish absurdity left behind.
Also starring Kristen Bell, Alison Brie, Josh Hutcherson, Zac Efron and Sharon Stone, with appearances by Bryan Cranston, David Cross and Palisadian J.J. Abrams, “The Disaster Artist” smashes into theaters Dec. 8.
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